White House Report Card: Dueling performances on virus ends on a weekly high

Those moves brought partisan praise and criticism on Capitol Hill and by our graders. Conservative analyst Jed Babbin, in grading a “B minus,” said the president’s biggest move, shutting down air travel with Europe, was a good one. Pollster John Zogby, unimpressed with Trump in grading an “F,” said what many have, that he has been comforted by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a leading spokesman in the anti-virus effort.

Jed Babbin
Grade B-

President Trump had a good week despite everything being overshadowed by the spread of the coronavirus and media-hyped panic over it.

The Wuhan virus, also known as the coronavirus or the COVID-19 virus, has spread globally, but the United States is in a very strong position to deal with it. Despite Democrats shouting that there aren’t enough test kits available, there are enough to test any person who needs to be tested, and millions more test kits are being manufactured. The president’s advice, which boiled down to “don’t panic,” seems to have fallen on deaf ears in the media.

Earlier in the week, Wall Street indices fell into a bear market, but recovered partially with a 1,985-point gain after Trump’s Friday Rose Garden press conference.

Broadway shows, Major League Baseball spring training, the NCAA “March Madness,” and much of the NBA season have all been canceled. The economic impact, which goes far beyond the entertainment industry, is going to be massive despite the coming and clearly foreseeable market recovery.

Trump’s ban on admission of travelers from Europe (excepting Ireland and the United Kingdom) took European governments by surprise. Nevertheless, it’s a good move. The Schengen Agreement, which enables free travel among European Union member states, has the effect of spreading the Wuhan virus almost at will. Nations such as Italy, which has one of the biggest outbreaks, have shut themselves down, but travel among other EU nations is unrestricted.

Meanwhile, an Iran-backed attack on a U.S. base in Iraq resulted in the deaths of two U.S. troops and one British soldier. U.S. retaliation took the form of airstrikes.

John Zogby
Grade F

President Trump tried to conjure up his inner James Buchanan earlier this week. Let the crisis worsen then run out the clock. But by midweek, he had no choice but to wrestle with reality, instead of ignoring it and once again attacking everyone else.

His efforts were mainly good: emergency small business loans, relief for hourly workers and those temporarily displaced, family leave payments, and so on.

But there are limits to Trump’s ‘America First’ theme. Not clueing in the leaders of EU nations beforehand on his travel limits and making us all guess who was affected was just bad form.

Presidents are supposed to lead, not fight, then follow. I join millions of people in thanking God we have Dr. Anthony Fauci. He is not only a voice of reason, but he knows what he knows. And perhaps more importantly, he knows what he doesn’t know and searches. Somehow, that gives me a lot more hope.

I wrote this report card before the president’s news conference declaring a national emergency and bringing together leaders in retail, research, diagnostics, and healthcare. I will keep the original grade because I believe it reflects the bulk of the week.

Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on Twitter @jedbabbin

John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Poll and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His weekly podcast with son and partner Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on Twitter @TheJohnZogby